Bodog Beat

Poker pro Daniel Negreanu is among the players still alive in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event. (Bodog Beat Image)

The 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event has been grinding away for the past three days – two flights of Day 1 and then Day 2 – and is now approaching the money bubble with 46 players remaining and the bubble set to burst with 36 left. Among those still in the hunt for the second-to-last WSOP bracelet on offer in 2009 are a slew of well-known poker pros, all chasing the £801,603 ($1.2763123 million … roughly) first-place prize.

That collection of recognizable names are dotted around the Empire Casino in London and are all looking to add to their already impressive resumes. Names on the list include Barry Shulman, Antoine Saout, Steve Zolotow, Liz Lieu, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Amnon Filippi, James Akenhead, Ram Vaswani, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, UK football legend Teddy Sheringham, Julian Thew, John Tabatabai, Jason Mercier and Yevgeniy Timoshenko, who is on a ridiculous hot streak having won the WPT Championship back in April and then almost $2 million online from two different tournaments. He is currently third in chips in this event.

The current chip leader is UK poker pro Praz Bansi (who has the best name evar), followed by Steven Fung. The players are currently on a 90 minute dinner break, which makes us think of how good the food in London is, and will be back to play down to 27 tonight.

Stay tuned for more updates from the 2009 WSOP Europe and download Bodog Poker for your chance to qualify for a major international poker tournament for as little as $1 through the Bodog Flight Club promotion.